Carolyn Evans, a professional storyteller and actress, is bridging the gap between generations by continuing the tradition of storytelling. Evans discovered her love for storytelling as a young girl, when she would entertain her family with songs, stories, and dancing. As she grew older, she was given opportunities to reenact historical black women, beginning with Sojourner Truth’s legendary “Ain’t I A Woman” speech. Today, Evans has performed at historical museums across the country, and even the renowned Apollo Theater. Black history icons live on through Evans’ passionate performances.

Tomeka Winborne spoke with Carolyn Evans about how she became a professional storyteller and the significance of keeping the tradition of storytelling alive within our society. Later, Evans provides listeners with moving performances as Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman in this exclusive Black History Month episode.

Angie Thomas And George Tillman Jr. On How Their Own Life Experiences Inspired ‘The Hate U Give’

The author and director of "The Hate U Give" reflect on how it was inspired by their personal experiences.

In conversation, NPR’s Ailsa Chang sat down with Angie Thomas, the acclaimed author of The Hate U Give, and the movie’s director George Tillman Jr., to discuss how the book and film connected with their own personal experiences.

The Hate U Give tells the story of a teenage girl, Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg), who is a part of two worlds: the poor, predominantly black neighborhood where she resides, and the white, affluent prep school that she attends. Her worlds are turned upside down when she witnesses the fatal police shooting of her childhood friend, an unarmed black male teenager. Following the tragic shooting, Starr is drawn towards a life of activism to stand up for her friend, who is called a “thug” and other misinformed names by the media, and to protest the wrongful actions of police brutality.

George Tillman Jr., the director of the film, spoke with Chang about what it was like to base certain scenes from the movie on actual talks he received growing up. He discussed how emotional it was to bring these scenes to life, particularly because he now has a teenage son himself. “This deals with history,” he said. “This deals with survival and how we can continue to stay on this earth without police brutality or being shot or being killed. You know, this is part of the fear of the African-American community.”

Another significant theme in the book is how Starr navigates between her two worlds, and how she feels an internal pressure to erase her blackness while at her fancy prep school with her white classmates. Certainly, many of us can relate to this uneasy pressure growing up or currently in the workplace, and this double life is actually based on author Angie Thomas’s life experiences.

Growing up, Thomas also lived in a mostly black neighborhood while attending a predominantly white, private college in Mississippi. She described her own experiences as a struggle, and practiced the art of code switching. “I would make myself more presentable I thought. I was careful of how I spoke. I was careful of how much emotion I showed,” Thomas said. “And it was a struggle because so often I was silent on things that mattered to me. And I would experience microaggressions from my classmates, and I was silent about them. I never called out the racism.”. READ MORE........